¹⁶ Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me,
For I am desolate and afflicted.
¹⁷ The troubles of my heart have enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses!
¹⁸ Look on my affliction and my pain,
And forgive all my sins.

- Psalm 25:16-18

All my life, I’ve known struggle.

Oh, I’ve not had the hardest life by any stretch, and I know there are plenty of people in this world who have suffered much worse than I have in my 39 years of existence. Yet, the thing about this human experience is that it is subjective, and that in turn makes each person’s struggle relative to their own experience.

As a young man in nursing school, we were taught that we should never assume to know the severity of another person’s pain. I’ve since taken that admonishment to heart as a reminder that every person’s struggle is unique, so I try to have compassion for others and the struggles they go through, no matter how they seemingly compare to my own.

Most recently, I’ve had the humbling and at times humiliating experience of being brought low by a chronic illness. I now intimately understand why my nursing instructors were so adamant about having compassion for those in pain.

There’s really no way to relate to another human what it is like to live every moment of every day in some sort of chronic pain. And, while it is possible to paint on a brave face most days, inevitably there will come those times when you are broken and beaten down, and must impose upon the patience of those around you to grant you a little grace while you recede into yourself until you can keep it together again.

When you’re going through something like this, where every day is a continual struggle to make it through the next hour, the next minute, the next few seconds; in these times, it is inevitable that you will begin to question the point of it all.

“Why God? Why me? Why here? Why now? Why this thing that you’ve cast upon me?” You pray for relief, you look for a sign, you ask for a healing miracle…

And the days go by, and weeks, and months, then years – and you begin to doubt your faith. Moreover, you begin to despair. You doubt there’s ever going to be any positive resolution to your condition, and it all seems so pointless to have to suffer day in and day out in such a meaningless way.

And you ask yourself, “Where is God in all of this?” Your heart breaks, and God’s comfort and love seem so, so far away that you feel as though they never really existed in your life at all.

At least, that’s how I have felt, many, many times over these last few years.

Right now, I’m reading Donald Miller’s book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life. Since I read Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality a few years ago, I’ve been a fan of Don’s work, and in this most recent book he returns to true form, sharing simple and provoking insights about living a Christian walk in the middle of this mess, this constant and unrelenting state of brokenness that is our human condition.

The entire book is a sort of self-deprecating essay examining the art of creating fiction as a metaphor for the greater undertaking of writing the story of our own lives. In yet a broader application of the same metaphor, Donald relates how he has observed that we are constantly trying to live comfortable, unremarkable, and utterly meaningless stories, and how God is continually whispering a greater, grander, more beautiful and endearing story to our hearts and souls. If we would only listen, we’d hear the story written for us by the greatest Author ever known; a story written just for us, an epic that allows us to play the great role we were intended for since time began.

At some point early on in the book, Donald attends an intense three-day seminar on story creation given by Robert McKee, who turns out to be a somewhat curmudgeonly yet entirely earnest and brilliant teacher on the topic. McKee tells his students, “You put your characters through hell. You put them through hell. That’s the only way we change.”

Over the course of the book, Miller comes to realize the truth of what our flesh and spirit struggle with; that is, we are by our nature in the flesh complacent, lazy, and drawn toward familiar comforts. We utterly fear and despise change, never mind discomfort or pain. It is only through the shock of intense and often painful experience that we become who and what we are meant to be.

As I started writing this, I was listening to my infant son crying at the top of his lungs, because I’d put him down for his afternoon nap and he wanted to sit in daddy’s lap instead. What his five-month-old mind does not realize and cannot comprehend is that he needs something that he doesn’t want at this time.

It’s more fun to be up with daddy, gumming his toys, listening to classical music and hearing the “tap-tap-tap” of the laptop keys across the room. But his daddy knows when it’s best to make him lay down, make him be still, and get him to switch gears for a while. He doesn’t like it at the time, but later he’ll be fine with it after he realizes the actual benefits of his nap.

I believe in many ways we are much like infants to our heavenly Father. Our cries must be like infant cries to Him, breaking His heart just as it breaks my heart each time I hear my son cry. Yet, our God wants us to live a better story, the one He has written for us. In this regard, He also knows that sometimes we must be allowed to experience a little suffering in order for us to change.

If you are suffering right now and at the end of your rope, I know this may be of little comfort to you. I can tell you in my own experience that there is nothing more trite than being told in the midst of intense sorrow and pain that “it’s all for the best”. That feels like a slap in the face in the midst of your trial, and I know it is absolutely no comfort at all.

So, the best thing I can do for you (and often it’s the only really helpful thing any of us can do for a friend who is suffering besides just being there for them) is to pray what Peter prayed for some two millenia ago:

“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”

- 1 Peter 5:10 (emphasis mine)

“He who gives to the poor will not lack, But he who hides his eyes will have many curses.”
— Proverbs 28:27

I know that verse is a tough one to hear, but so often I see people turning a blind eye to the suffering of others. I strongly feel that as Christians, we need to set the example for giving in our communities and around the world.

There are many opportunities for giving to charities that help spread the word of God and the message of Christ’s redemption while also seeing to the physical needs of people who need help. Compassion International is one of them.

Compassion International is a Christian ministry operating in over 20 countries worldwide. Their mission is to release children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enable them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults.

Compassion is a 4-Star charity as ranked by Charity Navigator. They offer care, support, education, encouragement, and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with children in some of the poorest countries and areas of the world.

Right now they are holding a contest called “The Great Sponsorship Challenge.” The purpose is to find sponsors for unsponsored children. It only costs $38 a month to sponsor a child, which provides that child with:

• Food and clean water
• Medical care
• Educational opportunities
• Important life-skills training
• Most important of all, your sponsored child will hear about Jesus Christ and be encouraged to develop a lifelong relationship with God.

I’ve set up a page for our sponsorship team efforts at the following web address, with the goal of getting 200 children sponsored. If you feel so moved by God to sponsor a child through Compassion, or if you just want to find out more about the Compassion’s mission, simply click this link:

http://www.sponsorshipchallenge.org/teammikem

Thanks!

- Mike M.

P.S. – I know sometimes it’s hard to give when you are feeling under a financial crunch. However, I strongly believe that God blesses givers. But by all means, if you have reservations about giving then seek the Lord’s will in prayer before making a decision.

This article blessed me in so many ways when I read it:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35086396/ns/health-cancer/

“Chandler is trying to suffer well. He would never ask for such a trial, but in some ways he welcomes this cancer. He says he feels grateful that God has counted him worthy to endure it. He has always preached that God will bring both joy and suffering but is only recently learning to experience the latter.

Since all this began on Thanksgiving morning, Chandler says he has asked “why me?” just once, in a moment of weakness.

He is praying that God will heal him. He wants to grow old, to walk his two daughters down the aisle and see his son become a better athlete than he ever was.

Whatever happens, he says, is God’s will, and God has his reasons. For Chandler, that does not mean waiting for his fate. It means fighting for his life.”

What a demonstration of maintaining faith in the midst of suffering.

Matt, you and your family are in our prayers.

Marveling At God’s Ability To Forgive

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! – 2 Corinthians 5:17 (New International Version)

I believe our God is the God of new beginnings, and I also believe there’s an ongoing theme in the scriptures regarding how God’s mercy and grace allow us to start over, even after great failures and setbacks.

Take King David, for example. David’s story is one of the most beautiful and inspiring stories in the Bible. Of course, we all know how it started… the story of David and Goliath is well known. Yet, although David started out upright and in the full favor of God, later in his life we would see him mess up in some pretty severe ways.

But as a friend of mine once said, no one was better at repentance than David. Reading the Psalms, I wonder at how many times David fell on his face, asking God for forgiveness for some sin he had committed. And, I marvel at how every time, God forgave him and restored him; and this was long before Christ died for our sins!

Or, take the story of Peter, the apostle. Peter was known to be loud and boastful, outspoken and always putting his foot in his mouth. Yet, Christ saw something within Peter that he knew was solid as stone… or at least, that would be in years to come.

18 “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” – Matthew 16:18 (New International Version)

As we all know, Peter denied Christ three times before the crucifixion. I believe that although Christ knew he would, it still must have broken His heart to hear His good friend say he didn’t know Him.

But once again, after the resurrection we see that Christ restores Peter in one of the most powerful scenes from the New Testament:

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” – John 21 (New International Version)

How very interesting that Peter denied Christ three times, and Christ restores him three times. I wonder if this is more than symbolic, but it certainly points to the fact that no matter how many times we fall, no matter how many times we fail, Christ is willing to forgive us and restore us anew.

When I mess up, I try to remember that it’s not the end of the world. Sometimes it takes me a while to seek God’s forgiveness, whether it’s out of shame over what I’ve done, or being too proud to admit I’m wrong. But every time, every single time, God is willing to forgive and restore me, an expression of a love that is so mighty it is beyond measure or comprehension.

And so I continue to be amazed at the everlasting mercy and forgiveness of Christ our Lord; that He would care for us so much He would die for our sins, and continue to express His divine love daily by restoring us with His forgiveness. What a beautiful and amazing love it is to be cherished so by the eternal God.

Faith is a difficult subject to cover, because it is so personal. How many of us have wished we had more faith, prayed for God to give us faith, wondered if we didn’t have enough faith?

18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. – John 1:18 (New International Version, emphasis mine)

Faith is not quantifiable. That’s why it baffles people who don’t share our faith in Jesus. I understand their unbelief; faith in an unseen God defies logic. For those who cling to the transience of this world and the things in it, faith makes no sense at all.

6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. – Matthew 6:6 (New International Version, emphasis mine)

By our very nature we want to cling to things that we can see, touch, and feel. We want to hold the solidness and substance of things in our hands, feel the firm ground under our feet. We want things to be concrete; even our idioms reflect our desire for solidity in our lives.

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” – John 20:29 (New International Version, emphasis mine)

Yet, that’s the paradox of faith – that things that are able to be experienced in the here and now require no faith at all to believe. And that’s the beautiful thing about faith; it requires a conscious decision to step outside the bounds of what is known. Faith is a choice; you must choose to believe.

1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. – Hebrews 11:1 (New International Version, emphasis mine)

Even so, I also believe that faith is a gift. If this is true, then when it is new faith must also be cared for like a new plant. It must be tended to, fed, watered, given light. This is how we increase our faith; by spending time with a God who is unseen. While this continues to confound those who choose to remain without faith, it’s a beautiful mystery that’s unveiled layer by layer in our lives; and as our walk with God deepens, so does our faith.

Scripture presents faith as more than just a feeble hope we cling to – in the Bible, it’s characterized as being a shield that protects us from harm.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. – Ephesians 6:16 (NIV)

In many ways, faith is it’s own reward. It sees us through the hard times, and gives us a hope that many don’t have during darker days. That’s why it’s so important to share your faith, even at the risk of rejection and ridicule. People need hope for salvation, and that’s what Jesus brings.

We all lack faith sometimes. I know that times are hard for many of you who will read this. In these, the most difficult times to have faith, take whatever faith remains within you and hold it up to your Father in prayer. Then, turn your worries over to Him and know that God is in control, that He loves you, and that whatever the circumstance you are facing, God is with you.

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28 (NIV)

Hi folks – long time no blog, right?

Well, I’m getting back to spending some time on this blog – people are reading the passages and finding comfort in God’s Word here, so I’ll be posting more encouraging scriptures over the coming weeks.

In the mean time, I’d like to share some of Pastor John Burke’s new series from the last few services, “A Life Worth Living”:

Message from 01/04/2009: “A Life of Character”

Message from 01/11/2009: “A Life of Meaning”

“2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.”

- Romans 13:2-4 (New International Version, bold mine)

Wow, did you realize there is a promise in scripture that our rulers are servant’s of God whose purpose is to do us good and bring punishment on people who do evil?

That’s a far cry from what we hear all the time in the popular media, isn’t it?

Yet, God is in control, 110% of the time. He has a plan, and it is working to bring good to those who love Him and are called to His purpose:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28, NIV (bold mine)

Of course, this doesn’t mean that we should just blindly accept everything our leaders do. Instead, we must accept that God has a purpose for putting leaders into place, and we should trust that the Lord knows exactly what He is doing when He does… even when leaders are seemingly in opposition to what God commands.

There is a peace to be had when we submit to the will of God in this way, as we learn to trust in Him more fully.

So, trust God enough to honor your elected leaders according to the laws of your country.

And, instead of criticizing them, let’s pray for them, that God grants them wisdom and a willing heart to listen to His call.

The message John shared yesterday at Gateway Church was really worth a listen.

If you have hurts in your past due to family issues (who doesn’t) you’ll want to listen to this message titled, “Nobody Stands Alone: A New Kind of Family” (click below to listen to the streaming audio):

If you want to listen to more of the recent messages from the pastors at Gateway, just go to www.GatewayChurch.com.

So, I recently started reading Jack Cavanaugh’s “Kingdom Wars“ books, and I could hardly put them down from the first page of the first book through the last page of the second. Not since I read This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness have I been so captivated by a work of Christian fiction.

More than just entertaining me for a few idle hours, the books got me thinking about the entire realm of spiritual warfare that goes on all around us while we remain mostly oblivious…

“10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his great power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can fight against the devil’s evil tricks. 12 Our fight is not against people on earth but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world. 13 That is why you need to put on God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil you will be able to stand strong. And when you have finished the whole fight, you will still be standing. 14 So stand strong, with the belt of truth tied around your waist and the protection of right living on your chest. 15 On your feet wear the Good News of peace to help you stand strong. 16 And also use the shield of faith with which you can stop all the burning arrows of the Evil One. 17 Accept God’s salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times with all kinds of prayers, asking for everything you need. To do this you must always be ready and never give up. Always pray for all God’s people.” – Ephesians 6:10-18, New Century Version (Bold and italics mine)

In the second book, the above Bible passage plays a pivotal role in the story. Of course, you’ll have to read it to find out how – trust me, it’s worth the read.

Despite that the books are fiction, the story serves as a cogent reminder that all we see is not all there is; further, it reminded me how important it is to truly put on the full armor of God, every single day.

Do yourself a favor and pick up Mr. Cavanaugh’s excellent books… I’m sure you’ll be both entertained by the story he spins, as well as inspired to look a bit deeper into spiritual warfare in scripture, as well.

And for practical teachings on spiritual warfare for Christians, check out Spiritual Warfare in a Believer’s Life by C.H. Spurgeon.

Jesus told us in no uncertain terms that we would have troubles in this world. Yet, as is typically the case when Christ gives us bad news, He couples it with Good News that far outweighs the bad.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 (NIV, bold and italics mine)

Of particular note to those of us who need encouragement is the fact that Christ defeated the “evil one” at the cross. Christ died for our sins, so that we would no longer stand accused because of our sin. In short, Christ took our shame away.

I know it’s hard to think of spiritual things when you’re hurting so much in the here and now. That being said, if you are troubled about things that are going on in your life right now, just remember what Jesus did at the cross, and know that you have a Savior who loves you so much He died for you.

And, Jesus desperately wants to have a relationship with you, so He can ease your sorrow:

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” – Matthew 11:28-29 (NIV)

Want to know more? A good place to start would be to read the individual study guide at WayofChrist.info – it’s free, and it will help you understand more about Jesus and what salvation in Christ really means.